Once Upon a December
by Kiome-Yasha
Summary: A child's faith in Santa must always be protected. Once Roxas's children find out the truth, he has no other choice but to perform a miracle for them to believe again. But this time, by giving them something greater. Christmas Fic/One-shot.


Disclaimer: "I do not own Kingdom Hearts. All rights of characters are reserved by SquareEnix and Disney. Except for Soren, Vennis, Aimee, and Sol; they belong to me."

Kiome-Yasha: "A _**VERY**_ late RokuNami family Christmas fic, but either way, I hope you guys will like it ;A;."

Once Upon a December

With the seasons here, children all over the world were bustling with excitement. They continued to write their letters to Santa, hoping to earn his favor in being added to his list. So many anticipated in seeing the jolly old man, including a certain young three.

Roxas and Namine waited in line with their kids to see Santa Claus. The mall was packed with people and decorations, spreading the rush of the holidays all around. It was noisy and crowded, the type of scenario you would want to avoid during Christmas Eve. Even so, the large tree that hung in the middle of the mall, did well to brighten their spirits from the stress. Good old Saint Nick took children upon his lap one by one, proceeding with the traditional task in asking what they wanted for Christmas. They were nearly there, and little Aimee was getting anxious.

"Papa!" She pulled on Roxas's sleeve and spoke with a nervous drone, "Do you really think Santa Claus will make it in giving me what I want this year? It's Christmas Eve!" She suddenly exclaimed in horror.

He chuckled at her, "Calm down, honey." He knelt down and ruffled her hair, "I'm sure Santa could make time for a cutie like you."

She smiled with relief from his words. It was then that they received clearance to go ahead.

Vennis, the eldest twin, shouted with glee, "We're next!"

Namine gave a motherly cheer, "Go on! Go tell Santa what you want!"

Ven shoved his twin brother to the side in order to enter first. Soren pouted from the older sibling's assault and chased after him. Aimee held onto her letter and stood frozen in fear.

Roxas softly encouraged her, "Ai, it's your turn honey."

The six-year-old hesitantly nodded, "Okay…"

She followed after her brothers and quivered at the intense moment. This was it! She was finally going to meet Santa Claus! It almost seemed surreal.

The twins immediately crawled over on top of Santa's lap, beckoning the younger sibling to come join them.

"Come on, Aimee!" Soren patted a space next to him for her.

One of the female elf volunteers took her hand and led her over to them. She lifted her up and placed her on top of Santa's lap with her brothers. Aimee gripped her letter tightly and crinkled the edges. She peered up at the flushed face man and frowned at his features. He surely didn't look like Santa, in fact; he sort of looked like an ordinary fat guy in a suit. Sweat was pouring down his face, and his eyebrows frowned with some sort of hint of annoyance. Where was his jolly laugh? His button nose and flushed cheeks? She was starting to have her doubts over the whole situation.

However, before she could place her opinion on the matter, Vennis was the first to speak.

He began to count off his list, "I want a new skateboard, a video game, a sword, a—."

Soren cut him off with a scornful shout, "Ven! That's too much!"

The older sibling scowled at the interruption, "Was I talking to you? No! I was talking to Santa!"

Aimee knew it was futile to break the two brothers up from a fight when it started. She sighed heavily with embarrassment from their behaviors. They could be so immature for a couple of eight-year olds.

Santa chuckled at the two boys, "Well, why don't we ask the young lady what she wants first?" He suggested with an awkward smile.

Aimee jolted from the sudden attention on her and fumbled with her words, "Well…um…Santa…what I want is…." Her voice grew quiet.

Vennis began to bop his leg up and down, already losing his patience.

"Aww, just tell him already Ai…!" He grumbled softly.

Soren hushed the older sibling, "Don't push her, Ven!"

"I'm just saying!" He countered offensively, "There are other kids waiting on her besides us, you know!"

"Still! You don't have to be so hard on her!"

"I just want to tell Santa what I want already!"

"Wait your turn!"

"No! You wait your turn!"

Santa spoke sheepishly in hopes of calming the two from arguing, "Now boys~…"

However, Aimee had already lost it as the twins prepared to strike each other.

She reached over and exclaimed emotionally with grief, "Stop it!"

Dropping her letter to the floor, Ai grabbed hold of Santa's beard without even realizing it. She kept her eyes shut with distress and yanked the cotton material right off his chin. Everyone amongst the crowd stared in horror at the scene, finding their children's belief in Santa to be ruined. Soren and Vennis sat dumbstruck at the fake Saint Nick, their mouths gaping open in shock.

"You're…you're a fake!" The older sibling announced with disappointment.

"Wait…does that mean, there's no such thing as Santa?" Soren questioned almost tearfully.

Namine held her hands up to her lips, "Oh no!"

Roxas was already trying to make his way over to his kids, sensing trouble ahead. Aimee slowly opened her eyes from all the commotion and gasped from what she saw. Tear fell down her cheeks quicker than rain, befalling the dreams of her childhood to a close. Her letter to Santa fell silently to the floor, totally left forgotten with no hopes of it being restored.

"You're…not Santa." She simply muttered with sorrow.

And just like that, her world shattered.

X~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~X

The drive home was silent like the dusty night of winter. Everyone was already preparing the morning ahead for Christmas. The streets were clean with no soul in sight, making the journey home even that much more uncomfortable. Aimee and her brothers sulked in their seats with a detached look of disappointment on their faces. They quietly mourned from the false lies of their Christmas idol, losing all aspect of joy for the season. Roxas drove into the driveway of their house and turned off the ignition once he stopped. Vennis opened the door to the back seat and sluggishly made his way out of the car. Soren, along with Aimee, followed his example and slammed the door behind them. They trailed after him with the same hopeless march.

Their father sighed with guilt and frowned deeply at the scene.

"What am I going to do…?" He questioned to no one in particular.

Namine gave him a comforting smile and placed her hand on top of his.

"They were bound to find out the truth someday, Roxas." She quietly reasoned.

He shook his head with doubt, "But they're only kids, Namine."

She reached over and kissed his cheek, "I know, but…what else can we do?"

He shrugged without much of an idea, "I just wish it didn't turn out this way. I mean…look at them…look at Aimee…"

She sadly directed her eyes upon their children. Out of all times for them to find out, it had to be on Christmas Eve.

"We should get inside." She calmly whispered, "I don't want them catching a cold."

She unlocked the passenger seat and stepped out quietly into the frosty air. Her heels clicked across the pavement when making her way over to the door, leaving Roxas alone in the car to ponder his thoughts. After a short time, he finally got out of the vehicle and followed his family inside the warm security of their household. Even with the night coming to an end, and Christmas hours away, he just couldn't leave things alone as they were. The blinking lights from the ornaments outside distorted his vision. He grimaced at them, hoping they could at least provide some sort of encouragement for him to fix things.

If anything, he prayed he wasn't too late to do so.

X~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~X

Roxas stepped out of the bathroom while rubbing his spikes with a navy blue towel. Steam poured out from the shower and into the hall, causing sweat to drizzle off his face. It was already late in the night, and he figured the kids were asleep at this time. Wanting to make sure, he decided to walk down the hall to their rooms. He inspected the boys' first, finding their door to be open just a crack. Pushing the door open to the side, he found them staring at the TV with a zombie like gaze. Vennis had a toy gun in his hand, shooting the screen each time Santa appeared. Soren held one of his favorite novels in his lap, doing his best to seem distracted. It simply broke their father's heart from seeing them this way.

Roxas spoke hesitantly with affection, "Make sure you boys don't stay up too late. It'll be Christmas morning tomorrow, after all."

Vennis replied dejectedly with a fist shoved under his chin, "Don't worry, we won't. Not like it'll matter though."

Soren took this time to bury his head between the open pages of his book.

"Goodnight, Papa." He answered quietly.

"Goodnight, boys."

He delicately closed the door back to its original state and headed for Aimee's room. Luckily, her room was right next to the twins', so he didn't have to travel too far. The door to her room was decorated with stars, something that was a personal favorite from his and Namine's youth. He cautiously opened the door, making sure not to disturb her if she was already asleep. When he immediately entered her room, Aimee hastily threw the covers over her head. She concealed her body from view and curled up into a little ball. Roxas sighed at her disguise and slowly made his way over to her bedside. He sat down and patted her head through the sheets. She flinched from his touch and whimpered slightly from the contact.

Roxas's face became crestfallen.

"I'm so sorry, Ai." He apologized miserably.

He soon veered his eyes over to her nightstand and spotted the crumbled letter she had dropped back at the mall. Quite curious of its contents, he took the envelope and turned off her Winnie the Pooh lamp. He made sure to plug in her Tinkerbell nightlight before leaving the room.

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

He bowed his head down and reached for the door, closing it behind him. There was an unsettling stillness of solitude within the house. It threatened his thoughts, developing the curse of insomnia to kick in. Spotting the glow of the Christmas tree by the staircase, he decided to follow it. The floorboard creaked loudly from his sluggish weight, straining each step he took. He made it to the ground floor and gazed over at the blinking ornaments with longing. The setting oddly comforted him, beckoning him to rest upon the couch near the old dusty fireplace. He sat down upon the cushions and rested his head back, breathing heavily in the process. Shadows danced across the ceiling, playing out memories for him with his family. He soon remembered Aimee's letter to Santa.

He sat back up and ripped the seal open, revealing a note inside. His eyes scanned over the written and glittered parchment, finding numerous drawings of ballerinas on it. There were some misspelled words, but he was able to make it out.

_**Deer Santa Claws,**_

_**Wat I want for Christmas is to be a balerina! I want to be a dancer like the girl in the nutkracker! Pleese make my wish come truw! **_

_**Sincurly, **_

_**Aimee Hikari**_

Roxas became overwhelmed by his daughter's letter and did his best to fight back the tears that wanted to fall. His covered his eyes with his hand in order to secure his emotions.

A familiar and feminine voice soon broke out into the silence, "Roxas…?"

He jolted from his seat in shock, "Namine…!" He wiped his face to gain back his composure, "I thought you were asleep."

Her eyes expressed concern, "I was going to, but I was worried when you didn't come join me after your shower."

He sniffed quietly, "Sorry about that…I just needed time to think…"

She soon changed the subject after noticing what he was holding, "Is that Aimee's letter to Santa?"

She came and sat next to him.

"Can I see it?" She asked with a weak smile.

He gave it to her without any resistance. She read the letter, the smile on her face becoming wider.

"So…she wants to be a ballerina, huh?"

He sighed bitterly to himself, "I feel like I disappointed them."

She briskly turned her head at him with confusion, "Why would you think that?"

He gave a mock chuckle, "How can I not? After all those stories I told them about Santa."

"It wasn't just you, you know. I'm also guilty of that." She assured him with a soft touch of her hand upon his.

He shook his head with doubt, "Still, it's my job to make sure they have a good Christmas. It's my job to make sure they receive the things I never had when I was a kid. It's _**my**_ job to make my family happy. I'm…" He choked for a moment, "…Papa, after all."

Namine curled her body close to his and pillowed her head over his shoulder.

"Roxas, you do make us happy." She began with a delicate tone, "More than you could ever know. You're a good man and I love you…"

"I love you too." He confided softly in return.

They both rubbed their heads together, enjoying each other's company as any couple would. It was then that an idea struck Roxas's head, springing his head up without warning. Namine became startled by his sudden burst of energy, frowning irritably from the lost security of his warmth.

He spoke with excitement in his eyes, "Namine, I'll be right back! I have an idea to fix things!"

He jumped off the couch and started to put on his winter wear.

She blinked a couple of times in bewilderment and called out after him, "Roxas…! What are you doing?" Realizing he was about to walk out the door, she shouted out once more in alarm, "Where are you going?"

He zipped up his coat and answered calmly, "Just trust me."

"Roxas!"

He ignored his wife's protest, and invited the frigid breeze from outside instead.

X~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~X

Aimee tossed and turned inside her sleep, sighing frequently each time. She held onto her moogle plush even tighter. She was hoping for it to comfort here thoughts, even so, it still remained obvious; she couldn't sleep. Throwing her blanket to the side, she lifted her legs over and slipped into her Minnie Mouse slippers. She got up from her bed and slowly dragged her small feet over to where the door was. She opened it and carefully pulled it to the side. It creaked loudly, urging her to investigate the hall in case anyone heard it. Much to her displeasure, she discovered her brothers to be awake as well. It seemed like they couldn't sleep either.

Vennis hissed at her, "What are you doing awake?"

"Shhh!" She lifted a finger upon her lips, "I was only going downstairs." She explained with a diminutive pout.

Soren tilted his head to the side and asked innocently, "Why?"

She went stiff and cuddled her face under the collar of her Piglet pajamas.

"I just thought…"

"You just thought Santa was still going to come?" Ven advised dully without sympathy.

He then sighed with annoyance, "You saw it yourself, Ai. He's not real."

Soren spoke indifferently with an unimpressed look on his face, "If that's the case, why are we going downstairs then?"

The older sibling's cheeks became scarlet with embarrassment.

"I was only going because you were!" He barked hotly in order to defend himself.

They both scowled at him and answered in union, "Liar."

He huffed at their remark and stormed off between them to the staircase.

"I'll just go by myself then!" He silently exclaimed.

Not long after in saying that though, the two hurried and attached themselves behind him. Ven predicted they would do that and could only sigh as the leader to descend down first. They carefully landed on each step, disturbing the wood to groan loudly. The three of them made it to the ground floor and could only gasp in fright from whom they saw.

"Mama!" They simultaneously yelped.

Soren gulped and continued, "What…what are you doing up?"

Namine placed her hands over her hips and studied each of their faces with suspicion.

"I was about to ask you three." She teased.

Aimee began to explain, "We…we couldn't sleep, and decided to come down because…"

"Because…we thought Santa might be here." Vennis dropped his ego and finished dejectedly.

Namine frowned instantly with guilt from their explanation.

"Oh… my babies." She immediately knelt down and embraced them into her arms, "I'm so sorry for what happened today."

"It's not your fault, Mama." Soren expressed softly with comfort.

She smiled and kissed their foreheads tenderly with appreciation. Aimee soon brought her head back with puzzlement.

"Mama, where's Papa?"

The boys also realized that their father was missing, becoming perplexed on where he could be.

Namine answered calmly to reassure them, "Don't worry, your father just…stepped out."

"Stepped out?" Aimee addressed loudly in shock, "But…it's Christmas Eve!"

"Hey, if there's one thing about your father that I've learned; is that you could always have faith in him. He never let me down." She stopped for a moment to giggle, "He gave me two handsome boys and a beautiful little girl after all."

Vennis puffed his chest out and offered with determination, "Then we'll wait for Papa to come back with you, Mama."

"Yeah!" Soren nodded with agreement.

"What?" She blinked a couple of times with confusion.

Aimee rushed and climbed over the couch to sit on the cushions.

"We'll wait for him together!" She excitedly announced, "Santa may not be real, but, at least we have Papa who is."

The twins went to join their sister, beckoning their mother to do the same. Namine smiled at their invitation and got up to sit with them by the Christmas tree.

"Alright, if you guys insist."

They all huddled together by the warm lights, admiring the collection of Disney ornaments that were displayed all over the room. Aimee and her brothers slowly began to doze off, finding their mother's warmth to be the comfort they needed to sleep. In the meantime, all Namine could do was believe in Santa and hoped he would pull through for her. Watching their faces as they dreamed, she knew he wouldn't disappoint her.

X~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~X

A ladder clattered into the ledge of the roof, alerting the neighbor's dog instantly with distrust. He barked at the man in the red suit who was currently struggling to climb through the merciless cold. After a long night, Roxas had managed to do the impossible. He was Santa Claus, or at least, something similar to him. With a large green sack on his back, he quickly hushed the canine to be silent. He breathed a sigh of relief when he obeyed, proceeding ahead to where the chimney was. After contacting his brother Sora and his wife, Kairi, he desperately pleaded for their help. In order to make his kids' happy, he had to become Saint Nick. He had already kept their gifts stored at their house, keeping them hidden there. Knowing his kids, they would have searched the whole house over for them, so it was better this way. Kairi contributed to his request by sowing him a suit, stuffing the coat constantly with cotton balls to make him round. They passed him a hat, along with gloves and boots. Checking off everything he needed to wear, the last piece he needed was the beard. Together with some leftover cotton, they carefully glued the pieces together with some strings. Roxas tied the fake beard around his face and successfully completed his disguise. When receiving their blessings and approval, he went off to perform a miracle to his family.

"Heave ho!" Roxas gritted heavily with labor, finally reaching the top.

He scanned the area and tossed the bag over onto the surface. The lights they hung during the first week of December were still lit. It gave him quite an advantage, considering how dark it was. Spotting the chimney, he lifted the sack over his back and cautiously tiptoed his way over to it. He examined the dark and steep hole, discovering a hint of light down below it.

"Great…didn't really think this part through." He commented sourly, "How the hell does a man like Santa get through these things?"

Searching the area once more, he found no other options.

"Guess I have no choice." He surrendered disquietly.

He turned around and lifted his legs over the opening, gripping the edge tightly so he wouldn't fall. However, once he retrieved his bag, he lost his footing right away.

"Oh crap!" He shouted with dismay.

His legs rapidly began to seek back balance, but it was too late.

Gripping the cords to the lights, Roxas cried out in terror as he plummeted down the funnel, "_**AHHHHHHHHH!**_"

He dragged the Christmas decorations with him, slamming directly onto his back. He coughed roughly when dust entered his lungs, wincing shortly when the bag hit his chest.

"God, going to be feeling that one in the morning." He grumbled painfully.

He could hear the neighbor's dog outside barking from within the house. Even so, what caught his attention more was the little voice in front of him.

"Santa?"

He blinked and lifted his head up to find Aimee and her brothers staring at him.

"Are you okay?" His daughter questioned sweetly with concern.

Shaking off his daze, he cleared his throat and switched his voice to the closest thing possible to the overweight saint, "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!"

The three of them gave him a puzzled look.

"Are you sure you're Santa?" Vennis asked suspiciously.

Roxas got up from the fireplace and entered the house, but not before stumbling a bit from the wires he had dragged from the roof.

"Of course I'm Santa!" He exclaimed defensively, "Would I be carrying all these gifts if I wasn't?"

Soren studied his attire, "Well, he certainly is dressed like him."

Ven glared at the man.

"I don't trust him." He cheekily implied.

Their father chuckled warily under his beard.

He bent down to Aimee with a hopeful smile, "You believe me, don't you?"

"I'm…" She paused for a moment in deep thought, "…not sure."

He frowned from her reply, but soon cheered up when she continued.

"We have to test you first!"

"Test me?"

"Yes!" She cheered confidently, "If there's one thing Santa loves; it's milk and cookies…."

She stopped and directed her attention over to her Mother.

"Isn't that right Mama?" She innocently asked.

Namine sat stunned at the replicated Christmas idol, already seeing through his disguise.

'_Roxas? What is he doing?' _She mentally suspected, _'Do the kids even know it's him?'_

She stared over at them, finding their expressions to be difficult to tell. Either way, she reacted her best to play along.

"Um…sure!" She soon suggested nervously, "Let's get Santa to sit down first though! It seems like he had a nasty fall."

Roxas nodded with agreement, "Yes, that would be nice."

"Right this way, Santa!" Soren shouted happily.

He led him over to the couch and propped some pillows up for his back. Roxas sighed with contentment from the treatment, easing his body to relax.

"Thank you, my boy." He petted Soren's head with appreciation.

"In the meantime, I'll go get the milk and cookies!" Aimee announced with exhilaration.

She skipped her way over into the kitchen, leaving the rest of the family to ponder over the mysterious Santa Claus. Vennis took the time to look at the clock that hung against the wall inside the living room. It was passed 12am.

"It's a bit late, you know, Santa." He mocked with a brash expression, "Where's my present?"

"You mean Sol accepting your feelings?" Soren carelessly asked.

Ven turned and flushed angrily, "Shut up!"

Roxas chuckled at his son's embarrassment, knowing it all too well by now of how the boy felt for the particular bluenette.

"I don't know, Ven. Have you been a good boy this year?" He humbly asked.

The boy turned and fumed with defiance, "Of course I have!"

"Are you sure?"

"…" He began to sweat nervously, "Um…maybe?"

Roxas rubbed his hand through his son's hair, causing him to sulk childishly.

"You need to calm your emotions." He advised with a fatherly tone, "Or else you'll say things you'll regret when impressing a girl."

He causally brought his eyes over to Namine's.

"It's something I had to learn when I fell in love with Mrs. Claus."

A smile spread across her lips, her cheeks becoming scarlet from his words.

"Anyway…"

He reached his hand inside his bag.

"I can't say I can make your wish come true with this Sol girl. But!" He hailed with silent victory, "I can give you something else that I knew you wanted."

Vennis waited in anticipation, his eyes eventually lighting up from what he saw.

"It's…the Oblivion skateboard!" He shouted in shock.

He then quickly snatched it from his father's hands and rotated the object excitedly with amazement.

"Mama! Mama look! It's the skateboard I wanted!"

Namine giggled from her son's outburst and nodded with approval from his shrill of joy.

"And for Soren…" Roxas dug his hand back into the large sack, "A designed replica of his favorite author's journal."

The boy marveled at the gift in awe and delicately took it from his hands.

"Oh my God…. thank you so much!" He hugged the object closely to his chest, "It's just what I wanted."

"What did I get, Santa?" Aimee asked eagerly from her return.

She held a plate of sea-salt cookies with one hand, and a glass of milk in the other.

"Why don't you give me those and you could find out?" He inquired teasingly.

She passed him the snacks, which he graciously accepted. He bit and swallowed a piece of cookie, crumbs falling over onto his beard. The girl giggled with amusement at his struggle to wipe them off, smiling humbly at him. He drank some milk to clear his throat, quenching his thirst immediately with satisfaction.

"That was really good." He complimented softly.

"Guess you pass!" She happily chirped.

"That means, time for your present."

He buried his hand back into the bag, while Aimee patiently waited. Slowly bringing his hand out, he revealed a certain pink shoebox to her.

"I hope this will be enough to make your wish come true." He stated softly.

Aimee carefully balanced the box in her hands and examined the weight, wondering what it could be. Not taking long to find out, she opened the lid and became stunned from what she saw.

"Dancing shoes…" She whispered with astonishment.

Roxas rubbed the back of his head.

"Do you like it?" He asked hesitantly, "You said you wanted to become a dancer, right? I know it isn't much, but…"

He was soon cut off by his words when she suddenly attached her arms around his neck.

"This is the best present ever." She hummed with joy, "Thank you…Papa."

That was his cue to panic.

"What? Papa? I'm not your Papa." He laughed uncomfortably, "I'm Santa Claus."

"Oh cut the act, Papa." Vennis playfully scorned, "We all know it's you."

Namine was left amazed by their intelligence, "How did you guys know it was your father?"

Roxas whipped his head over to his wife, "Namine!"

She had given away his position.

She quickly tried to apologize, "I'm sorry!"

Soren chuckled with amusement, "Besides just Mama telling us, it was easy to figure out also from your hair."

As an example, Aimee pulled the golden strands further out from underneath his hat.

"Even with Santa's hat, you still can't hide your spikes Papa."

Roxas sighed with defeat, a smile soon spreading across his lips, "Okay…you got me." He soon asked with concern, "You guys aren't mad?"

"No, why would we?" Soren asked with confusion.

"I know how disappointed you guys were about Santa, so I thought you'd be upset."

Vennis shook his head, "Well, we were able to learn something from Mama not too long ago. So somehow, it makes it okay."

"Oh? What could that be?" He asked inquisitively.

Aimee volunteered to explain, "Because, even if we lose faith in Santa. There's at least one person we know who we can always rely on."

"And that's you." The twins finished confidently.

Overwhelmed by their sweet declaration, Roxas's eyes suddenly became moist with tears. He was unable to express his emotions, blinking rapidly to contain his tears from falling. Aimee and her brothers took this moment as an advantage to embrace him. They squeezed tightly with a desire to never let go. Their father returned the kind gesture and kept them close to his chest. Namine smiled at the scene for limited time before she became stunned by the sound of bells from outside. They jingled merrily, catching the family's attention right away with curiosity.

"What could that be?" Namine asked warily with suspicion.

Vennis wasted no time to investigate, his siblings following right after him.

"Hey!" Roxas called after them with alarm.

They opened the front door without looking back, their parents giving. They followed the trio outside to the porch. They were welcomed by snow, drifting slowly from above. The bells continued to ring across the sky, alerting the family to look up.

Aimee pointed to the source, "Look! It's…"

"Santa…." Soren finished in awe.

Even though it was only a ghost of a shadow of his sleigh and reindeers, it was indeed Saint Nick himself.

"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!"

Vennis shouted frantically with euphoria, "Merry Christmas, Santa!"

Aimee squealed excitedly with her older brother, "He's real! Papa brought Santa!"

Roxas gazed up with fascination, "Well, what do you know…."

Santa winked and waved at the parent with appreciation, bursting out another chorus of "Ho, ho, ho!".

Namine leaned towards her husband's chest and smiled fondly at him.

"Looks like Santa was able to grant my wish after all." She enlightened with a sweet tone.

Roxas brought his gaze over to her, "Seems like he did for both of us." He then reached out for his pocket, "Which reminds me, I haven't given you your gift yet."

She stepped back with alarm.

"I thought we promised not to trade gifts this year!" She berated with a pout.

He gave her a skeptical look, "Like you were really going to keep that promise."

His wife sighed with defeat, knowing it was very much the truth.

"Besides, when I saw this, I knew I had to get it for you." He reached over and slipped on a star pendant around her neck, "Seems familiar?"

She looked down and admired the shape of the jewel with nostalgia, "It looks like the papou charm."

He nodded with a smile.

"The same one we shared…that same Christmas night years ago." He whispered affectionately.

The star-shaped gem gleamed majestically in her hands, inspiring a small light to appear. It summoned a mistletoe to appear above the doorframe between the two lovers, catching them to share a moment of an old holiday tradition. Roxas had a feeling Santa's magic was at work here. Not bothering to refuse the trinket though, he leaned down and captured Namine's lips with his own. Heat poured onto their cheeks, cherishing each other's warmth in a passionate hold. Vennis whined and covered his eyes with disgust over the "mushy" scene. Soren held a small blush and just smiled, while Aimee giggled with approval.

The silver stars of Christmas fell into the slumbering night of December. Even if our beliefs in something like Santa Claus, Jack Skellington, fairies, and pixie dust would end. There was always one thing to remember. It may be hard to see, but it was there. It's a tale almost in every precious story, and for Aimee and her brothers, it was something worth being a part of.

The End

Kiome-Yasha: "Happy belated Christmas, everyone. Sorry this was late, but you know what; with family, it never is."


End file.
